Halloween Crack A Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica story
Glaciers
Another rift appeared on the Brunt Ice Shelf in October 2016 and quickly extended eastward. Dubbed Halloween Crack, it’s located about 12 km north of Halley Research Station. By March 2017, the crack cut 35 km across the ice shelf. By October 2018, it was 60 km long.
If Chasm 1 were to meet the Halloween Crack at the McDonald Ice Rumples, a large iceberg could form and would be the largest iceberg to break from the Brunt Ice Shelf since the start of observations in 1915. Estimates suggest it would cover about 1,700 km2, a little bigger than the island of Oahu. While larger icebergs have broken free of coastal Antarctica in recent years, such a break would add to the overall pattern of ice loss.
These images from Landsat 8 use only its panchromatic band. The resolution of this band is 15 m, rather than the 30 m of the other bands. It makes the images grayscale, which in Antarctica is not much different from natural color.
Do you see Halley Research Station move into view in the lower right of the images?
How about another rift forming in the last images and an iceberg breaking from the shelf? More on that in the “North Rift” sections.
Location
Oct. 31, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Jan. 28, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Mar. 1, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 21, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 183/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Nov. 20, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 185/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Oct. 31, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 184/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Jan. 7, 2021 Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Mar. 1, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 185/113) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Dec. 25, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/114) — Halloween Crack, Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Brunt Ice Shelf, Antarctica Additional Imagery & Stories
A-74
It soon became too dark to see A-74, which covered 1,270 km2, as the Antarctic winter set in. But Landsat 8 continued imaging with its Thermal Infrare...
Chasm 1
A feature known as Chasm 1 is prominent in the Landsat imagery. This crack reactivated in December 2012 after no movement for 35 years. The Landsat im...
Halley Station
The British Antarctic Survey has studied Brunt Ice Shelf in person since 1955. Scientists at their Halley Research Station study Earth, atmospheric, a...
Ice Rumples
Major rifts have formed near a distinctive feature called the McDonald Ice Rumples. The feature, rising about 10 m above the surrounding ice shelf, ma...
North Rift
While a large iceberg was threatening to form from the Halloween Crack or Chasm 1, a new rift suddenly appeared in satellite images in September 2019 ...
North Rift 2
The rift continued to push northeast at up to 1 km per day as it cut through the 150-m thick ice shelf. GPS equipment detected a break on February 26,...